


The Way the Pendulum Swings

by AtropaDesideria



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beach House, Haunting, M/M, Poker Pair Week, Psychic Abilities, Vacation, Very brief mention of Alma and Kanda as a couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 12:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12817362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtropaDesideria/pseuds/AtropaDesideria
Summary: Allen couldn’t wait and stepped in just a bit. He smiled, giddy as a cold wave slid over his toes and then pulled back out to sea.He wiggled them, enjoying the feeling of wet sand under his feet. “We still have a few hours until sun set. I want to swim while I can.”





	The Way the Pendulum Swings

**Author's Note:**

> I am posting this for Poker Pair Week 2017.
> 
> Prompts: (Nov 24th) Routine | Meals | Getaway | Train
> 
> I want to give fair warning that this doesn't have some kind of epic paranormal end. It's basically just two guys enjoying their vacation in a house that happens to be haunted.
> 
> Edit: Looking at the date, it seems A03 is a few hours ahead of me in time so this shows as being posted on the 25th. Oops.

Day 1

Allen and Tyki lowered their travel bags to the grassy lawn as they approached the small front porch leading to a large, beautiful beach house. The teal front door had a glass center in the middle with the design of twin butterflies circling a rose etched into it. The porch light was a lovely hanging lantern with colorful green and blue glass beads trailing down the sides. A rocking chair was placed next to a small plastic table.

 _"This place looks like it will sell well,"_ Allen said, gaping at the house.

Tyki lifted his bag back up and moved onto the porch. _"We haven't even seen the condition of the inside yet."_

Allen followed Tyki and sifted through his hoodie pocket for a set of keys. _"I don't need to. He always kept things looking nice."_

He opened the outside glass door and then used one of the keys in the lock of the inner wooden door. Once it unlocked, he held the glass door open for Tyki who's suitcase was a bit heavier than his own backpack.

 _"Still. You were only his adopted kid for what, maybe two years before he died? You made out if you ask me,"_ Tyki said bluntly as he squeezed past Allen.

Allen rolled his eyes and entered the house after Tyki. He walked into the open living room and eyed the interior, admiring it. The walls were painted sea foam green and the bottom halves were covered by beige and green, Ivy print wallpaper. A chestnut wood furniture set consisting of a coffee table, televised table and bookcase were placed in the room. A dark green couch faced the older model, flat screen television.

He spoke to Tyki who had already moved into the kitchen to investigate. _"I'd take having him here over a house any day. Don't get me wrong, I love Cross, but things just aren't like they were with Mana."_

Tyki ran his hand over the smooth, white and brown speckled granite counters the kitchen had and called back to Allen. _“Are you seriously still be mad over him seducing your teacher? That was high school.”_

 _“ **Teachers**. With a plural. Do you know how annoying it was to have all my academic achievements ignored and be known by everyone as ‘Sexy Cross’ kid’?”_ Allen whined.

Tyki paused his exploration of the kitchen, knowing that Allen could take a while whenever he started on one of his usual rants about Cross. He returned to the living room with his suitcase and plopped down on the couch, careful to move the hand-knit pillows decorating it aside so that he wouldn’t crush them.

 _“It’s not like you were an honor roll student, boy. Just be happy they liked you for it,”_ he said.

Allen let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl. _“Stop taking his side just because he shared his booze and cigarettes with you that one time. Besides, his bad habits aren’t what I meant.”_

 _“What did you mean then?”_ Tyki asked, fighting the urge to smoke at the mention of cigarettes.

 _“I guess it’s just that Mana was my first real parent. Just when I had started to consider that place my home, he went and died. I wasn’t ready,”_ Allen admitted.

Tyki sighed and stood up, walking over to pull Allen into an embrace. _“No one is ever ready for someone to die so suddenly. Life just sucks and shit happens.”_

 _“Gee thanks. You are just full of optimism and positivity today,”_ Allen replied sarcastically.

Tyki placed his hand against Allen's pale cheek and guided his face so that his large gray eyes were looking up at him. _“It’s what I do. Seriously though, are you sure you’ll want to sell this place when the time comes? This is the only thing he left you.”_

Allen pulled his head away from Tyki’s hand and twisted around in his arms so that his back leaned against him. _“Even without the mortgage paid off, property taxes and the heating bills to keep the pipes from freezing over in the winter are too much for me to handle. Especially while also paying rent at our condo.”_

Tyki nuzzled Allen’s neck, earning a light moan. _"What if we live here year round?"_

 _"I wouldn’t make you do that. I know you like living close to your niece,"_ Allen stated.

The older man rolled his eyes. _“Road is already a teenager. She'll survive without me living down the street from her. Sheril might be a different story..."_

Allen turned back around to look at him. _“No offense, but I wouldn’t miss your brother. Every time he stops by when you aren’t home, he just lectures on and on about how I need a real job.”_

 _“I told him your job pays enough to cover the bills. I’ll talk to him again,”_  Tyki reassured.

Allen walked over to the coffee table and picked up a picture frame containing Mana and someone who looked creepily similar to Tyki. He had the same dark, curly hair, tan skin and amber eyes. Moving the image closer to his face, he checked for the distinctive mole Tyki had under his left eye and was relieved to see that the man didn’t have one.

 _“It’s not about that and you know it. He’s embarrassed to admit his brother’s boyfriend runs a Psychic business for a living,”_ he bit out.

Allen knew that his job wasn’t what most considered normal and to make matters worse, most people also accused him of running a scam. His work was one hundred percent legitimate, but proving that to someone who refused to believe in the truth was near impossible. Even if blatant evidence of said truth appeared in the form of scars on his own body.

A red pentagram shaped scar covered part of his forehead over his left eyebrow with the top two points stopping just underneath his white hair. A line pattern began at the bottom star point and paused at his eyelid, continuing again underneath his eye. His left arm was discolored by black and red veins and had the symbol of a cross seemingly burned into the top of his hand.

His arm had been that way for as long as he could remember. Whether he was born with it like that, or if his birth parents were just demented people who decided to mutilate their child was something he’d probably never get the answer to. Not that he was sure he wanted to anyway.

Allen's scarred eye however was the result of the first time he ever tried to communicate with the supernatural. Soon after Mana’s death, he tried calling on his ghost and ended up calling something else instead. A devilish shadow figure in a top hat came to him, bringing a week worth of unrelenting nightmares.

Every night for seven days, he watched in his dreams as he killed Mana. Each night, the form of Mana became more deformed until on the seventh night he looked almost nothing like a human. That was the same night that he woke up with the pentagram scar.

His caretakers assumed he did it to himself and hadn’t believed him when he told them what happened. He was forced to undergo daily therapy for months, until Cross adopted him and by some miracle actually believed him.

Tyki knew Allen was right so he just gave him a half hearted smile. _“Look boy, I know Sheril can be annoying once he gets started. Just try to ignore him, ok?”_

 _“Oh I ignore him. I ignore him plenty. If he wasn’t your brother, I wouldn’t even let him in the apartment at all,”_ Allen laughed dryly.

Tyki’s smile turned genuine. _“Well I’m glad you like me enough to put up with my family.”_

 _“Only for you, Tyki. Only for you. I would have left anyone else by now,”_ Allen admitted.

Tyki chuckled. _“The perks of dating me are that great, huh?”_

Allen let his gaze travel down to the zipper of Tyki's blue jeans, before bringing it back up to look into his bright eyes. He gave a cocky smirk, watching the other man's expression as he spoke.

 _“I suppose. Some of them anyway,”_ he teased.

“I can’t say that I dislike this side of you. It only adds to my determination,” Tyki said.

Allen was pleased with the way Tyki handled his teasing. He almost never took serious offence and usually laughed it off, accepting it as part of the challenge that is Allen Walker. It was part of what made him fall for the older in the first place.

 _“Maybe you can remind of the perks later, but for now we need to put our things away. I want to see the rest of this place and check out the beach before nighttime,”_ he reminded him.

They explored the rest of the two floor house. Like their research had told them, the house had a decent amount of rooms. Besides the living room and kitchen, there was also two bedrooms, a master bathroom, a guest bathroom, a laundry room, a small office and a small room that was used as storage space.

Allen and Tyki decided on one of the two bedrooms. The room they picked had a dark colored mahogany wood furniture set and cappuccino wallpaper. They made use of the two bureaus in the room to store their belongings. Allen took the one with the mirror attached to the top and Tyki took the other one.

Both of them brought enough clothes for their four day vacation, a few electronic devices and some beach necessities. They neatly folded their clothes and placed them in piles in the drawers of their respective bureaus.

Allen organized his clothing stacks according to clothing type while Tyki organized his so that the outfits he planned for each day would already be together. Allen also brought his favorite quartz pendulum, a letter mat and a Tarot deck. Out of habit, he hid his divination tools under a stack of t-shirts.

Tyki wouldn’t touch them without permission, but he liked to be extra cautious. The process of cleansing them to get rid of other people’s energies and influence wasn’t something that he wanted to have to take the time to do.

Removing a pair of black and purple swim shorts from the pile of clothes he had just put away, Tyki spoke to Allen. _“Well, we made ourselves at home here. I’m dying for a smoke. How about you meet me at the back porch and we’ll head over to the beach?”_

 _“Sure. I’ll be right there,”_ the white haired man responded.

He heard Tyki change clothes behind him as he looked for his own swim suit. Then he smelled the strong scent of sun block as the older man hastily rubbed some on himself before exiting the room and heading downstairs.

Allen sifted through the drawers and found his own red swim shorts and a white long-sleeve t-shirt that he didn’t mind getting wet. He changed into them and put on his own sun block. He liked to use a higher SPF than Tyki due to how pale he was, even though he read that it doesn’t actually make much of a difference.

The white haired man spent a good five minutes just slathering it on, making sure he covered every part of his exposed body with it. When he finished, he met Tyki on the front porch.

The porch had a glass outdoor table set with matching chairs and overlooked a small patch of grassy area that met in the middle with a stone trail. The trail led through some vegetation to a large strip of sand.

Tyki smothered out his cigarette upon Allen’s arrival. _“I hope you put on sun block?”_

 _“Yes, **Mom** ,”_ Allen groaned, brushing past him.

They walked down the path to the beach and went to the water’s edge. Tyki looked out over the ocean, enjoying the warm wind on his face and the smell of salt that accompanied it. Allen couldn’t wait and stepped in just a bit. He smiled, giddy as a cold wave slid over his toes and then pulled back out to sea.

He wiggled them, enjoying the feeling of wet sand under his feet. _"We still have a few hours until sun set. I want to swim while I can.”_

The two men spent the rest of the day swimming and riding the waves with their bodies. Time flew by and the sky alerted them that it was time to head back as it changed to a lovely orange and red combination, then to purple and finally to a dark shade of blueish-black.

Tyki spoke to Allen who was clinging to him with his arms and legs wrapped around him in the water. _“I’m surprised you lasted this long without even mentioning food.”_

 _“Now that you mention it, I could really go for some food. There was that seafood shack we passed by on the way here,”_ Allen hinted.

The older man laughed, slowly wading closer to shore with Allen still stuck to him like a starfish. _“Seafood shack is is.”_

They headed back to the beach house to change into regular clothes and then went to buy dinner. The seafood shack offered takeout so they opted for that since they were getting tired and slightly itchy from not showering off the sea salt and sand. They sat at a high table in the beach house kitchen and practically inhaled their order of fish and chips.

Allen was the first to finish eating and called dibs on bathing in the master bathroom since it had both a shower and a large tub with air jet massage pumps built in, while the guest one only had a small shower.

Tyki didn’t mind showering in the smaller space so he didn’t protest. After they were clean, they prepared for bed. Allen laid with his head on Tyki’s shoulder and they talked about random things until they fell asleep.

* * *

 

Day 2

Allen awoke to the sound of something shattering. He sat upright and looked around the room. Tyki was still sound asleep next to him and he didn’t appear to have heard the sound since he didn’t even flinch. Tyki generally had a quick reaction time whenever he thought something was wrong.

 _“What the…?”_ Allen asked no in particular as he climbed out of bed.

He walked over to the bedroom door and peeked outside. Everything was silent except for the soft hum of the house’s wiring and the sound of seagulls outside. Wanting to be sure no one had broken in, he crept through the hall, quietly glancing in each room.

When he didn't see anyone on the top floor, he made his way down the silver spiral staircase and checked the floor below. He searched for a few minutes and didn’t find any intruders anywhere. Both the front and back doors were locked when Allen checked so He decided that maybe he had dreamt the noise.

He went into the kitchen to get some water. Searching through the cupboards, he grabbed a dusty glass cup and washed it out before filling it with cold water from the sink. Suddenly pain throbbed in his scarred eye and he saw a vision of the kitchen he was in from another time flash across his mind.

Two men were arguing. The scene was blurred and going at an unnatural pace, like a video on fast-forward, but instinct told him one of them was Mana. The other man threw a glass at Mana and it crashed near Allen’s head, startling him and causing him to drop his own drink.

The vision ended as it shattered against the floor and Allen heard Tyki rushing downstairs soon after. He leaned over to pick up the shards of the cup he dropped and replayed the scene in his head, confused as to who the other man was.

Tyki entered the room and glanced at the mess on the floor. _“Jeez boy. I heard something break and got worried.”_

 _“Yeah, sorry. It was just me being clumsy. I’m sorry I woke you,”_ Allen lied, still cleaning up.

 _“Are you sure that’s all it was?”_ Tyki questioned, aware of Allen’s special talents.

Allen glanced over to Tyki and replied quietly. _“My eye showed me another vision. Of the past I think.”_

Tyki walked over the place his hand on Allen’s shoulder. _“You aren’t going to say something like ‘It doesn’t involve me so I should stay out of it and enjoy my vacation,’ are you?”_

 _“Exactly,”_  Allen replied, earning a groan from the older man.

 _“I may not be psychic, but I’m still your boyfriend. You’ll tell me if you’re planning something dangerous again, right?”_ he asked, remembering the last time Allen saw a vision.

Allen nodded. He didn’t really see a need to get his boyfriend involved in the more abnormal parts of his life, but he understood that sharing came with the whole relationship thing.

After the item was cleaned up and the pieces disposed of, Allen and Tyki got dressed and went out for breakfast. They drove through the drive-thru of their favorite fast food breakfast chain and ordered a box of pastries and two coffees.

Once they had eaten breakfast, they agreed that they needed some groceries to keep in the vacation house for the next few days and traveled to the nearest market. Tyki had to convince Allen that they didn’t need a month’s worth of food for only three days.

Allen argued, but in the end Tyki won and they only purchased what they needed. They filled their cart with bread, milk, eggs, some deli meats, peanut butter, jelly and a box of frozen waffles.

The two men paid for their shopping and returned home to put their groceries away. Then they drove back out into town for some sightseeing. In town, they found an area with tourist shops that sold clothes and souvenirs. They browsed the shops leisurely, purchasing a few things here and there.

 _“I want this,”_ Allen said, holding up a mask made of glued together sea shells.

 _“Boy, I love you, but your taste is hideous. Just saying,”_ Tyki stated.

Allen huffed. _“It’s not hideous, it’s just tacky in a good way.”_

Tyki raised his eyebrow. _“Is there even such a thing?”_

 _“Of course there is,”_ Allen insisted, taking the mask to the checkout counter.

He purchased it, along with some salt water taffy that had been for sale at the counter. Tyki was all too eager to head home before Allen bought any more masks. They already had ten hanging up at home. He new addition would make eleven.

Returning to the beach house, they made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to take with them and spent the rest of the day hanging out on the beach again. Allen molded some of the softer sand into a sand castle. Tyki joined him, not caring about how childish they looked playing together.

 _“What is that?”_ Allen asked Tyki, pointing towards the small city he built in the sand.

 _“I call it the Ark. I designed it after a beautiful white city I saw in a dream I had last month,”_ Tyki stated, proud of his work which was better constructed than most sand castles.

Allen looked closer at a section of the city where a tall tower stood. _“What is this tower for? It’s so tall compared to the rest of the buildings.”_

 _“In my dream, I was the protagonist and this is where I battled my white cloaked rival,”_ Tyki said.

Allen smirked. _“What kind of weird dreams are you having?.”_

Tyki shook his head, smiling. _“I don’t know, boy. The cloaked figure reminded me a lot of you. Maybe it means something.”_

 _“Or it was just a simple dream. What’s next? Are you going to start talking about alternate realities?”_ Allen teased.

 _“I thought a psychic would be open to the idea,”_ the older man admitted.

Allen brought his fingers to his left eye. _“Sure, I may see strange things with this eye, but I am able to believe them because I see them. I’ve yet to see proof of an alternate reality.”_

Tyki shrugged, figuring that maybe Allen was right. Day turned into evening and they headed back inside. Like the night before, they fell asleep after eating and getting washed up.

In his sleep, Allen dreamed of the man from the picture who looked like Tyki. He watched him sitting on the beach, reading a book about classical music. From the water, Mana called out to him. He stretched his arm in a wave, beckoning the unknown man to join him.

The mysterious man put his book down, but just shook his head no. Mana looked disappointed and continued swimming. After some time passed, he exited the sea carrying a large crab and the two of them took turns looking at it. A smile covered Allen’s sleeping face as he watched the memory.

* * *

 

Day 3

Allen opened his eyes to the feeling of his pentagram scar being stroked. Before him, he saw a beautiful and familiar face. The man pulled his hand away when he noticed that Allen had woken up.

 _“Tyki. Good morning,”_ Allen said.

The man didn’t respond and instead walked away silently. Allen sat up to watch him and noticed that something was strange. The man he mistook for Tyki was partially see through and he didn’t touch anything he passed.

Allen watched as he walked out into the hall and into the unused bedroom across from the one they picked. He quietly followed him, not sure what he should do. The Tyki look-a-like walked through the room’s back wall and vanished as Allen entered.

He looked around the other bedroom. The walls were painted white and all the furniture was white. There were mirrors everywhere. A large one leaned against the closet door and small decorative ones hung on nails.

It was a lovely room, but it didn’t match either Allen or Tyki’s taste, which is why they chose the other bedroom to sleep in. Allen sat down on the bed and ran his fingers over the soft, pure white comforter.

 _“I don’t know your name. Was this your room?”_ he questioned loudly.

No one replied so he went back to join Tyki in bed. The older man awoke to find Allen hidden underneath the covers and pressed close against him. He wished the white haired man a good morning and received a grumble in return.

After some coaxing, he managed to drag Allen out of bed to eat breakfast. They microwaved some frozen waffles and ate them with just butter since they forgot to buy syrup.

Once they had finished breakfast, they went to the beach like they had the two days before. This time Allen appeared less excited and seemed to be deep in thought as he laid on the beach towel.

Concerned, Tyki sat down next to him. “Are you alright?”

Allen inched closer to him and told him about the man he saw. He was freaked out after being told that the man looked so similar to him, but didn’t focus too much on that detail.

It was clear that neither of them felt like spending the day at the beach after their talk so Tyki recommended that they spend the day inside instead. Allen agreed and they headed back. Tyki watched television in the living room while Allen read tarot up in their room.

After performing a few readings on his situation and only getting a vague answer, he decided that the cards weren’t much help with his current issue and collected them into a pile. Thanking them for their work, he kissed the deck and slipped it back inside it’s cardboard box. The box read ‘Clown Crown Tarot’ and had the image of a thin, undefined figure in a beautiful silver mask and feathery white cloak on it.

The deck had been the first and only gift he had ever received from Cross. It had become one of his most prized possessions over the years. He placed it back in the drawer he had taken it from and grabbed his quartz pendulum and letter mat. Allen took them to the room with white furniture and sat at a desk in the corner of the room. He laid the letter mat flat on the surface.

Then he held the pendulum between his hands, rested his elbow on the desk and spoke. _“Only the truth may be told through this pendulum. Negative entities may not use it to lie.”_

He asked it to show him the basic answers for yes, no and maybe. When it replied correctly, Allen moved on to use it with the letter mat. He asked for the man from earlier’s name and watched as the pendulum swung from letter to letter, spelling N. E. A.

 _“Your name is Nea?”_ he asked, seeking verification.

It swung in a clockwise circle, showing that the answer was yes. Allen moved on the ask a few more questions. By the time he was done he had found out not only the man’s name, but also that he was the brother Mana had only mentioned once and that he drowned on the beach.

After he decided that his energy was becoming drained from so much psychic work, he ended the pendulum session. He thanked Nea and put the pendulum back in it’s drawer.

Thrilled about having found out so much information on the ghost in one day, he rushed to tell Tyki all about it. Tyki didn’t seem too happy about the new information.

 _“So what you’re saying is this man… Nea died here? In this house?”_ he asked.

 _“In the water to be more specific. Either way, this changes everything,”_ Allen squeaked excitedly.

Tyki gave Allen a confused stare. _“How so?”_

 _“Nea is Mana’s brother. That makes him my uncle. I can’t sell a house that he is haunting.”_ Allen said as if that answer made perfect sense.

The older man made an uh-huh noise and lit up a cigarette, not even caring that he was inside. Allen snatched it from him, giving him a disapproving look.

Tyki pinched the bridge of his nose. _“Like I said, I don’t have an issue with you keeping this place, but making decisions because of a ghost doesn’t exactly sound like good planning."_

 _"Not just any ghost. **Family** ," _Allen clarified.

The two of them argued over the situation for a while until Tyki finally gave in. They spent the rest of the night streaming movies on Tyki's laptop in the living room and cuddling. The last movie was still playing when they fell asleep.

* * *

 

Day 4

After Tyki and Allen ate breakfast like usual, they skipped going to the beach. Instead Allen went up to Nea's bedroom. He laid on the large white canopy bed, talking to his Uncle’s ghost. He was excited to talk to Nea even though he didn’t answer directly.

 _“You know, we decided that we’re going to keep this place,”_ he said, grinning.

A knock sounded against the wall, making him look in the direction it came from. It happened near one of the large mirrors. He checked around it first to see if anything fell and didn't find anything so he stood back a step and gazed into the mirror.

Pain throbbed in his eye again and in the mirror he saw Nea’s ghost materialize behind him. Nea was smiling at Allen. He reached his hand toward him, causing him to flinch and spin around. Allen didn’t see anything when he faced away from the mirror, but he felt the presence of the ghost standing close.

With his deformed hand, he reached out felt the air. He froze when he felt another person. A twinge of nervousness filled him as he had never felt ghosts in such a way before. Allen moved his other arm and tried to feel with both hands, but only his deformed arm didn’t go right through the spirit. A voice he recognized from his vision and dream whispered in his ear.

It sounded a mixture of melodic and warped at the same time. _“Welcome home, Allen.”_

As soon as Nea spoke, Allen felt him pull away and vanish. The rest of the day went by like the ones prior. Allen and Tyki spent time eating and showering. When the time came for them to head back to their condo to prepare to move in to the beach house permanently, Tyki pulled Allen aside into the kitchen.

“What is it?” he asked, as Tyki dragged him along.

Tyki pointed to his laptop that was placed on the high table. _“There were probably better times for this, but I couldn't figure out when to do it.”_

Allen glanced at the labtop. _“Do what?”_

 _“One second. I planned it this way because I didn’t want an audience, but I know how important family is to both of us so I compromised a little,”_ Tyki said, going over to the computer and clicking the mouse.

 _“Do what? What compromise?”_ Allen questioned, becoming more confused.

 _“I put us on livestream,”_ Tyki continued, kneeling before Allen and pulling a small velvet box from his pocket, _“Allen Walker, you are both the biggest pain in the ass and the love of my life. I'd like for our time together to last so... Will you marry me?”_

As he said the last part, he opened the box to reveal a silver men’s engagement band with a pattern going through the middle. Allen was shocked by the proposal and couldn’t help the happy tears that fell from his eyes. They had been together for three years and he had always wanted their relationship to end in marriage, but he didn’t think that Tyki would be content to settle down like most couples. Yet, the older man ended up being the one to propose first.

Tyki became flustered and unsure at Allen’s tears, until a large smile covered the white haired man’s face. He waited as Allen dried his eyes with his long sleeves and kneeled down to face Tyki.

 _“Of course I will,”_ Allen laughed, holding out his hand so that Tyki could slip the ring on it.

Tyki gently placed the ring on Allen’s ring finger and pulled him into a tight hug. He nipped gently at Allen’s ear, then remembered that they were on camera.

He helped them both up and they remained holding each other, their arms wrapped tightly around the other’s body as if out of fear that they might try to escape. Their embrace was interrupted by the sound of their cellphones buzzing.

 _“We’re still on livestream. I should probably turn it off now, unless you have something to say to all our loved ones,”_ Tyki pointed out.

Allen let him go and and allowed him to turn off the video while their phones continued to buzz. They glanced at their phones at the same time and cringed inwardly. Already they had received multiple texts each.

 _“Alma says that he and Kanda can’t wait to host married couples dinners with us,”_ Allen informed Tyki.

 _“I’m sure Mr. Salty Pretty Boy must be so excited for those plans,”_ Tyki said, referring to Kanda.

Allen snickered. _“I’m sure he’ll thank us if we decline. We have to have one.”_

Tyki shook his head at Allen’s sadistic side. It wasn't a side that the white haired man showed often and it never failed to amuse him. His phone rang and he checked the caller ID. Seeing that it was Sheril, he excused himself to answer it. The line was muffled and Road was complaining to his brother about something that he couldn’t quite hear.

Finally Sheril returned to the line. _"Tyki, are you there?”_

Tyki hesitantly responded. _“I’m here. Hello, brother.”_

Even from a foot away, Allen could hear Sheril as he started shrieking on the other side of the call. He was saying something about proper proposals and the responsibilities of marriage.

Tyki answered in grunts, not really paying much attention to the conversation and held the phone away from his ear so that he wouldn’t be deafened by the volume.

While Tyki dealt with his brother, Allen took the opportunity to send pictures of his ring to his friends. He was a little embarrassed to show his deformed hand in the pictures, but he was also too proud of the ring to not wear it while showing it off. 

Cross called soon after to ask Allen about his plans and tell him that he hoped Allen and Tyki wouldn’t expect help from him with paying for the wedding. Allen assured him that they had it covered even though they technically hadn’t discussed that part yet.

By the time the two were done answering all their loved one’s questions and receiving congratulations wishes, they were feeling worn out so they sat down on the couch. They snuggled against each other, enjoying the feeling of being close to one another.

Allen yawned. _“I didn’t know phone calls could be so tiring.”_

 _“They are always tiring when Sheril or Road is involved,”_ Tyki responded.

Allen glanced at Tyki. _“We have work tomorrow. We **have** to drive home tonight.”_

“I know. I also know what will wake us up,” Tyki mumbled, pushing Allen down and kissing him deeply.

Allen returned the kiss before responding. _“Mm. I was going to say that we should stop and buy coffee, but I like this idea better.”_

Tyki stopped and looked around. _"The ghost isn't watching, is he?"_

 _"No, he isn't,"_ Allen confirmed as he began unbuttoning Tyki’s purple shirt.

He ran his hand down Tyki's chest. Tyki shivered as he felt the cold metal of Allen’s ring against his skin. This would be their first time doing it as an engaged couple. The thought filled him with a renewed sense of excitement.

He pulled Allen's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles, making sure to give Allen’s ring finger an extra kiss. _“I love you.”_

 _“I love you too,”_ Allen responded, feeling a fluttering in his heart much like the first day they met.

They both knew then, looking into each others eyes that once they were married, their union would be for life. It would be until death do them part, or possibly even longer.

Not even Allen was entirely sure of what happened to married couples after death, but if his experience with ghosts told him anything, he did know that strong emotions had the power to tie them to people and things that they cared about. Allen could only hope that an eternity together wasn’t too big of a wish.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Edit: I added some extra tags and fixed some spelling and grammar errors that I missed during the original editing process.


End file.
